Scene #3681: Into a Lost Land

Owner	Pose
Chica Mendez	SEVERAL HOURS AGO... Chica put out the call for Alexis and Geralt to finally do the job she'd hired them both for. According to intel from one of her contacts, the Salish-Sidhe's border patrols would be lessened for the next couple of days, as stations along the border slowly rotated out those who were serving in them. It's the perfect time to do a little smuggling work! Of course, she didn't just expect them to roll up in there and start stealing foci crafting materials with no backup; they have three SINs (that were pretty cheap), some passports, and some data about the run itself. The location they were going to was in Wyoming, a good 150 miles northwest of Cheyenne. The info also lists a 'Samantha Distant Sky', another talismonger, as a possible contact for them to make in Cheyenne, if they felt the materials or the attention was too hot for them to bring everything straight back to Seattle. A map has been provided, as well. NOW... The area that they end up coming to is much like it's northern neighbor Montana. Far from civilization with roads that often times are barely kept up, surrounded by mostly flat plains with occaisonal minor forests popping up. One of these larger forested areas has been circled on the map, with a warning noting, "These areas are highly magical and filled with spirits. Be mindful of sites that look like altars, and keep it respectful if you run into a friendly spirit." Maybe not much help to three not-mages, but hey. Two of them have been on her world long enough to start learning what it was like to work around magical elements. The third... Well, he looks good and he has a medallion. At least they'll probably have a decent amount of time to talk?...
Alexis Maaka	A muscle car in the wilderness drives across the roads, with traveling music played for flavor as it makes its way to Wyoming. It's not a state most visit unless they /really/ have to, what with the hostile winds and all that. There's a few close calls with wildlife and the wind, but Alexis is a smooth enough driver that the adventuring party makes it to their destination without too much trouble along the way. Also, they've probably grabbed some fast food along the way, so it's not like they're starving. The vehicle doesn't join them when they reach the mountains, with Alexis opting to go the rest of the way on foot when the forest is too damn thick to drive through, despite the vehicle's surprising all-terrain capabilities. Nancy can do quite a bit but she can't do /everything/, you dig? Toting a rifle in hand, Alexis approaches the site carefully, deferring to her and Kotone's guest for the trip on advice with the supernatural on this one. "You're on spiritual duty, mate. This isn't normally what me and Ko-chan tend to deal with regularly, y'know."
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa had picked up this job at the last moment to come alone. She felt she was entering the twilight zone, while many things had gone to hell? Relations with the natives had been generally getting better since before she was born. To see a world where it gone like this? It was rather sobering really but here she was suited up and loaded out. "I know the basics, don't wreck alters, better to leave an offering out of respect than to anger them. Inga would have my hide if I rampaged through alters and such." She had her own weapon on hand and she looks over to Alexis. "Actually Alexis? I had a lot of experiance with the super natural. Ask about Kingsmouth. Still your right I don't deal with it that commonly but I'm not entirely ignorant on magic."
Geralt of Rivia	As far as Geralt's concerned, he got handed a whole lot of things that he's not sure what to do with. It's not that surprising, really, when dealing with mystical artifacts. People think witchers are a wealth of mystical knowledge - and that might be true - but this is the sort of thing Geralt would always leave to Yen, or Triss. He's stuffed the passports into his satchels and generally forgotten about them. The area he finds himself in now, however, is nothing like he's seen before - this American forest. He's handled spirits before, however, so, the warning isn't something he's too concerned about. He's come loaded for bear which, really, is just normal for him - two swords, leather and chain armor, potions and oils. He's not much of a conversationalist, either. Unfortunate. He looks down and checks his medallion - if there's anything magical or monstrous here, it'll be vibrating.
Chica Mendez	The path that Alexis manages to find with her car does lead into the very outskirts of the forest, but it's good that she stopped; the path turns into an oddly well-maintained footpath that leads deeper in. It's not a particularly bright day today, with a low-hanging canopy of light grey clouds, so as the path leads deeper in, it slowly starts to grow much darker. A lot of this wood is evergreens, but there are other, /much/ larger redwoods that have likely recieved magical aid to grow like they have. Here at the outskirts, it doesn't seem like Geralt's medallion is vibrating yet. It may be that the magic of this forest is focused closer to the heart. With Kotone's knowledge and Geralt's medallion, it may be that this actually could go fairly smoothly, even without an actual mage here as backup. Who knew! When they start walking, it takes only a good ten minues for much of the light to be dimmed by the trees around them. Another twenty made the first impression on Geralt's medallion, a minor vibrating that would only start growing once he left the trail for a dozen meters or so. The source seems to be a tiny yew sapling with mostly bare branches. One of the branches, however, is loaded with luscious green leaves that are hanging on strong despite the cold and the season.
Geralt of Rivia	"Hold up," Geralt says, all of a sudden, noting the vibration of his wolf medallion. He glances at it, takes a few steps around to identify the direction, and then follows the direction where it seems to be vibrating more strongly. "Here," Geralt says, "Found something." He gestures to the sapling, and then points out the branch. "Seems unusual. Too cold for a tree to have leaves this green. One of the things we're looking for?"
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is getting a bit of a creepy feeling about the forst here she just doesn't like it. She does however keep very alert and deploys a remote camera drone. The small thing with a whirrl takes off before she pauses as Getalt spots the tree as well humming. "You make a good pint, Maaka? Your thougths on this?"
Alexis Maaka	Freezing in her tracks, Alexis glances Geralt's way before she approaches the sapling. "Looks that way. This shit ain't natural, that's for sure." She begins to swap her vision settings to thermal while her eyes scan the treeline, lowering her EM-GASH coilrifle but keeping it close regardless. It might be best not to look too menacing while she looks for spotters up high.
Chica Mendez	While everyone else was busy looking at the branch and deciding if it was worth cutting, Alexis' thermal vision doesn't seem to pick up anything in particular. Maybe a couple animals now and then, or a bird flitting from a branch, but no humans at least. As they've surmised, the branch will indeed serve for Chica's purposes. Sadly it's also in something else's interest, along with the small party. A small gust blows against them, and Geralt's medallion probably starts vibrating even more intensely as something comes across from the Astral Plane behind them. What forms is a rather large, grizzled black bear spirit that snorts at them as soon as it's fully across. It keeps groaning and gruffing at them for a moment as if trying to communicate, but as none of them are magically active... he switches to English. "You would... kill the tree... for magic." It's not exactly words or a voice, but it feels... old. "Your greed... Will undo you... in this forest. The poison... has taken... others like you... before. In the center of the wood..." It goes to sit down, grunting and staring at the three. It doesn't seem threatening, at least.
Alexis Maaka	Okay, big spooky bear. Alexis almost goes for her rifle when she sees it approach, only for it to turn into a native. Okay, this is...surprisingly not that different from when she ran with Connor. "Whoa, okay I know this looks bad..." When the native speaks, she frowns. She can relate. What the companies did to her body just comes to mind as he speaks of greed and poisoning. "You're not the only person who's been victimized. What the corps did to me," She motions to her eyes, those artificial looking optics. "What they did to me wasn't by choice." Somehow Geralt looks more lifelike than she does, disturbingly enough. When the man goes quiet, Alexis shrugs at the others before beginning to move. "Let's go, then. Guess we're heading to the center."
Geralt of Rivia	Geralt watches the bear but he doesn't reach for his blade. Monsters that talk and don't instantly attack, they are the worst. Some of them are harmless and others, well, they're just looking for a chance to catch you off guard. But Geralt's seen enough bears in his time and knows this one, spirit or not, isn't about to leap at him. "Removin' that branch would kill the tree?" Geralt asks, "Hmm. I'd say it's what we're lookin' for, but if it's going to be that much of a problem, we can look for somethin' else. Come on, let's go. No point in picking a fight."
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is keeping frosty for the moment, and then comes the wind. She pauses for a moment and starts to look about when she sees a bear, well a bear spirut. She stares at it for a moment but she does not make a hostile move. She pauses for a moment and she tilts her head a little bit. She takes a step back, it was a tree but well she had an idea and she listens to the bear. "The center of the woods? We'll see what we ... can do about it." She bows slightly to the spirit, no need to be rude however she does listen for a moment. "They mentioned about something in the center of the woods. Maybe we can take from them what they already have, and give em a bad day?"
Chica Mendez	The bear grunts as it stares deeply into both Kotone and Alexis both. Of course, it wasn't the first time that it'd seen street samurai. After all, many had come to plunder the woods for magic, usually with a mage or shaman to guide them. These three weren't magically active, but one of them had something... strange. "The world... enforces change upon... all it's children. Perhaps it has... lead you to... this point, Barren Ones." When Alexis turns to leave, the bear raises it's front paw and slams it down on the dirt with an irritated sound. The thump is a lot louder than it probably should be. "Hold... Barren Ones. You have a... duty to complete. Your greed has... lead you here. It can be... rewarded for... a favor done. Take this magic... and another... from my shrine. You will purge... the poisoned heart... for this price." Whatever the spirit thinks is in the wood, it clearly thinks it's bad enough to warrant a personal gift in exchange. It's a pretty good bargain, after all...
Alexis Maaka	The thump prompts Alexis to turn around. "Maybe it did, but my actions decide what I do. So I choose to help, in this case." She says grimly, before trying to parse the bear's words. "Uhh...so. How do we take this 'magic' anyhow?" She asks, awkwardly. "Sorry, we're not actually from around here. Not used to the parlarance, y'know?"
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa looks to the bear for a moment, as she's called a baren ones she pauses for a moment. She pauses for a moment listening to the bear spirit nodding a little bit. "I think I understand. We may not be able to use magic but I don't think this is a problem that needs direct use of magic of one's own." She listens thinks for a moment. "All right you have a deal so we need to get to the heart of the forest, but what has been posioned is this some sort of toxic spirit there?"
Geralt of Rivia	With the bear paying attention to Kotone and Alexis, however, it gives Geralt and opening. Spirit or not, he's here to gather mystical talismans - and this branch, bursting with life when it shouldn't be, sending his medallion rattling... it fits the bill. So, the moment the bear looks away, Geralt slips a knife into his hand and surreptiously cuts the branch from the tree with one smooth motion. With the branch palmed, it is simple enough to slip it into one of his pouches. "Come on, we can't stand around and talk with a bear all day."
Chica Mendez	Geralt is pretty sneaky, and when he cuts the branch and palms it the bear spirit doesn't seem like it's noticed. It's eyes stay upon Kotone and Alexis. "Without magic... you cannot kill... what lies there. But you can... drive it away." It snorts and shakes it's head when Kotone mentions toxic spirits, slowly bringing itself ot it's feet. "No... What lies there... is much worse. The redwood ahead... holds my shrine." It motions with it's head to a fairly tall redwood several hundred meters into the forest. "You will find it... after you have... succeeded. You may... follow your companion's... advice." What might be a meaningful look is shot over to Geralt before the bear spirit ambles away. That was... massively unhelpful, but at least you guys now have a goal! Deep into the forest's heart north of their position. Thankfully, it seems like the trail will lead them there... Which will probably be a good thing, because the sun is starting to set. As they walk further towards the heart, the sounds of animals and insects starts to fade away. Vague tracks are barely visible on the path, and the foliage on the sides seem like they've been dying, sickly and weak. With Alexis' thermo vision on, she'd probably start to catch sight of what may be humans, deeper in. The way that they're walking indicates patrol routes, and they seem to be armed. It's possible that this might be a National Police patrol, but it seems they're protecting the last half-mile or so around the center of the forest... Should they get close enough, Geralt's medallion will again start reacting, but if it gets loud enough, they might end up attracting attention. They're mystical... somehow, but there's no indication as to how or why.
Geralt of Rivia	Again, Geralt's medallion begins to shake and clatter against his leather breastplate and, again, Geralt holds up his hand for the team to slow. "Something's ahead," he says, gesturing in the vague direction forwards. He gestures to the tracks, his witcher senses allowing him a bit better vision than most. He kneels down to take a look. "People. Boots. Hard to tell how many," Geralt states. "Might be magical?"
Alexis Maaka	"Oh." Alexis feels kinda dumb now, but she shrugs. "Okay, Geralt's right, let's just get going." The cyborg pauses when the group gets close, approaching the tracks when Geralt points them out. Her eyes switch to thermal vision again as she inspects the tracks, trying to see if she can get a signature while following the path. Her rifle goes back to her hands, and she begins to get low and slow while she creeps along.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa gets the idea this thing will need a mage to kill, but they can drive it off. Hopefully that will do but when she gets the answer she nods gulping a bit and mutters something about Flith, under her breath. She seems to have some idea os the sort of level of they might be facing. She pauses looking to the spirit one last time. "Thank you." It was willing to talk to them in the end rather than try to attack them. She will not forget that this spirit was willing to talk. With that she'll move ahead but she has an idea of what they could be facing, something higher on the food chain of bad than a Toxic spirit. "Let's go." With that she moves along, her optic cameo kicking in causiung her to melt into the landscape almost.
Chica Mendez	Geralt might be able to figure it out--as the humans approach, the medallion grows more impatient, then calms again as they move away. There's something magical about them... Furthermore, as they get closer his Witcher vision might show something strange. Everyone moved like they were military, but only a few wore NP uniforms. If Kotone and Alexis get a look, it'd probably look a lot like what shadowrunners might wear. Hell, one of them is an orc woman with bright pink hair wearing a shirt that barely covered her chest, and jeans. In the winter. Looking down the path, Alexis would find that it eventually terminates at what looks like a log cabin. There's heat and light in there, as well as two people guarding the door, armed with assault rifles. They occaisonally split to circle the cabin in five-minute increments. She'd probably be able to get a better count with her thermal vision; there looks to be around seven people guarding this site. Suddenly, Geralt's medallion might get a lot louder. There's an eigth that's coming towards the path from the forest to their right. A frumpy looking Native American woman wearing another NP uniform. Only she looks... gaunt. Still warm and alive, but like she hadn't been taking care of herself. She's also got a big shotgun and is stumbling right towards the group's position.
Geralt of Rivia	Keeping himself out of sight, behind a convenient tree, Geralt keeps his eyes on the approaching humans. So, that's who the 'police' are. They move like guards, or soldiers, and Geralt quietly slips around the tree as they pass. Strange, though, that one of them is some kind of humanoid monster - and that a lot of them aren't wearing uniforms. "I think those are the police," Geralt comments, unfamiliar with that last word. They've got somethin' magical, or they're magical. It might be the person with the pink hair. Maybe. You two see anythin'?" And then, with his medallion reporting something else, Geralt whirls, one hand going to his steel blade. "Got someone else comin'. She's got a-" Oh, what to they call those strange things? "-a firearm. Might be hurt, she's stumblin' around. What's the plan?"
Alexis Maaka	Alexis begins to comm Kotone privately. [Go and scout from above, use your drones so we can get a good picture of the zone.] She then begins to slip around the opposite way of Geralt, letting the team cover all their bases while they sneak in. She doesn't have her STALKER gear for this, but Alexis is capable of sneaking pretty well. Slinging her rifle, she replaces it with her 10mm Kama Type 40, affixing a suppressor to the muzzle as she begins to creep along. Shotgun lady will be first, as Alexis stalks towards her. Once she's in range, she clocks the NP officer with the butt of her gun, dragging her behind a tree while searching the unconscious officer. Lipstick, gum, shotgun shells and an inactive commlink, NAN cash... Alexis takes it all, beginning to work on hacking the commlink to see if she can snag some data from it.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa gets something isn't right even without any magic. She does feel something is wrong, there's something /very/ wrong. She felt the dread and she wondered about the peopl eahead she does keep however her self stealthy for the moment as she thinks on a plan. <<Right>> So she's going to attempt to sneak in and start scouting ahead.
Chica Mendez	The plan was, apparently, to try and do this stealthy. It's not so hard, right? Take out the ones on the outskirts and slip away. Surely between all three of them, they'd be able to get this done without any particular issue. The frumpy NP officer goes down like a sack of bricks when she's hit, and Alexis gets to do what she wants with her body. Only, being in her presence feels like the temperature has gone down several degrees. Even as Alexis watches, the weeds and plants around the body, save for the tree, are starting to die. Sadly, trying to connect to her commlink doesn't seem to be doing any good. It's run out of battery. Furthermore, all noise in the forest has come to a dead stop. There's no movement and no sound; not even the wind stirs the air around them. It's almost as if the world has been put on mute. Kotone's drones go out to scout the area, finding that literally everyone has gone completely still, until the spell passes. Then there's a sudden rush towards the woods, /right where they were hiding/. While Alexis tries to get more information about what was happening, the body next to her suddenly bucks, and then dives on the cybernetic woman with far more strength than any unaugmented woman should be capable of, particularly one that looks like she hasn't been eating for who knows how long. The frumpy woman lets out what can only be described as a screech that resonated with palpable hatred. Something that would've made most normal people flee for their lives. And at the same time, her hands are trying to wrap around Alexis' hair so she may introduce Alexis' face to the ground multiple times. The woman's shriek is matched by seven different throats, but all carried the same awful hatred. Rounds of shotgun, pitol, and assault rifle ammo are sent flying towards the rough location of the trio. It was time to move.
Alexis Maaka	Well, this is happening. Alexis is about to toss the useless commlink aside before she's actually manhandled by the cop she figured was down for the count. "What-!?" The cop's inhumanly strong, and Alexis can tell she isn't augmented. WOuldn't make sense out here anyways. The next likely thing is less than pleasant to consider, but Alexis is too busy being smashed into the ground over and over to ponder further. Screw this nonsense. Alexis grabs the cop by the wrists before she squeezes with enough force to snap bone, before she draws a combat knife to plunge into the possessed officer's leg and then between her ribs, twisting before she finishes the job by grabbing her opponent by the head, and twisting hard for good measure. She might as well cause enough damage to make sure this cop /stays/ down now, staying non-lethal just went out the window given the circumstances. Anybody who can get up from being pistol-whipped and manhandle a cyborg with Alexis' level of enhancements is not someone to underestimate twice.
Geralt of Rivia	"Time to go," Geralt states, as bullets rip through the trees around them. With his wolf medallion still rattling a storm against his breastplate, Geralt raises his left hand - dancing an intricate pattern with his fingers - and unleashes a gout of fire in the direction of the shooters. That should buy them some time to get away from them and figure out their nex move. Igni doesn't exactly create a wildfire but it'll definitely set a fire, filling the air with smoke!
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa was cloaked but that own't help from a wild shot going after her. She's attempting to not get shot here but wondeirng just what the hell is going on. Are they alive? are they dead, she brings up thermo to see while she's focusuing on not getting hit, the others are moving to attack. She wonders just what in God's name is going on here, and likely nothing to do with said Denity or anything alighned remotely with good. She keeps the camera going however.
Chica Mendez	The frumpy woman puts up one hell of a struggle at first, barely seeming to react when her wrist was snapped, nor her leg stabbed. It takes the second stab and especially the snapping neck to finally put her down. As her faces goes slack, Maaka has the opportunity to see something... strange. For just a moment, just as the woman breathed her last gasp, the air from her throat forms into mist--in the shape of a mass of jellyfish-like tentacles pushing their way out of her mouth. It only lasts for a split-second, though. Quick enough to miss. Geralt's display of magic evokes an immediate and harsh reaction. As the fire grows around them, some of the others move away to start circling around. The pink-haired ork girl, however, does not. She jumps straight through the flames and starts gunning it towards where the magic came from, heedless of her mates firing towards their position. When she comes close enough, her fists spark, then start to burn with bright flames that don't seem to be bothering her at all. She settles into a martial artist's stance before moving forward with a series of punches. Kotone's thermo does show that these guys are indeed still alive. If only barely. Furthermore, there's not a heat signature at the door of the cabin, standing outside and sniffing like an animal. Slowly, purposefully, he starts making his way from the cabin towards the woods.
Alexis Maaka	Maaka doesn't miss the jellyfish thing but she still needs a moment to process what just happened. "Ech..." Her foot kicks the discarded shotgun into the air, and she catches and checks the weapon before she produces and primes a smoke grenade. Tossing it, she uses it for cover as she makes a run from cover to cover. Maaka's eyes swap to thermo-optic mode, trying to pick out more and more of the cops as she shoulders and aims the shotgun downrange. Eventually she spots a guy with a rifle, sighting him down and firing while he blazes blindly in a direction where she isn't. "Heh, this scattergun ain't bad at all." She mutters to herself. This is definitely coming home with her after this.
Geralt of Rivia	Geralt swears as the Orc woman comes leaping through the flames regardless. And he swears again as her fists alight and she charges him, punching at him. If he were a lesser man, those blows might have caught him. As it is, they come very close and, on some level, Geralt is glad his hair is already grey. He reaches for his steel blade, pulling it free and twisting to slash at the woman and drive her back, to give himself some room. While some say that only an idiot fights a sword with their fists, Geralt's seen enough to know that he could still be at a disadvantage. The Witcher settles into a duellist's stance, steel blade glinting in the reflected fire of the Orc woman. "Come on," he goads, ready to strike at her the moment she exposes a weak point!
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa has some idea if they are alive and taken over? She's however going to make some effort about this. She does have Arc Thrower in her matter maniplator and she summons it out, she's only got two heavy charges with this but she's going to use it. Given it's able to work on several species nervous system she's going to try and blast the nearest of her attackers with it trying to knock them out. Even if they are a lost cause they might be able to find out what's going on.
Chica Mendez	The smoke grenade is pretty useful; for a little while the gunfire turns a little more sporadic as the smoke from the fire and the grenade start building up in the branches. Alexis' target is what might've been a fairly handsome middle-aged man, were it not for everything that had happened here. The bullets catch him clear by surprise, but at least some of the shot is caught by the tree and his body armor. He goes to a knee, but soon presses himself forward again, firing to where he knows Alexis is. He's not the only one. Two pistols start thunking on the tree Alexis is using for cover--and one of them throws a grenade. Their reactions are slowly getting faster. Geralt's swing catches the orc woman across the arm, but she doesn't give much of a reaction, not even an indication of pain. Despite the fact that part of her forearm was flapping free, she raises her arms again. Geralt gets to try to goat her on, but it seems like her eyes are slowly getting brighter, more intelligent. Her decision is to kick at the ground beneath her, spending a nice gritty mist at Geralt's face, then charges to try to bear him down to the ground, where her greater strength will overcome him. She weighs a /lot/, by the way. Nobody has yet seen Kotone yet, so they've sort of just gone past her in order to get the two active combatants. When Ko fires first, a balding NP gets struck and falls to the ground, twitching and spasming as it howls. The one near it dives for cover immediately. Then, behind Kotone comes a chill of frozen winter. It's the guy from the cabin--well-dressed, handsome elven Native gentleman in a suit. He smiles absently into the forest as he opens his hand, and sends a bolt of lightning flying for the cyborg. "Who sent you here, dead one?" His voice is calm. Polite. Cheerful even. But his eyes are the coldest blue.
Geralt of Rivia	Geralt shouts in irritation, grit and dirt getting into his eyes. He's falling back - and then falling /down/ as the Orc woman catches him and brings him to the ground. While not the first time Geralt has been thrown to the ground by a woman who commands fire, this occasion certainly isn't as nice as the other ones. She's heavy, too, and after a brief struggle Geralt isn't sure he could overpower her. So, he doesn't, struggling to get one hand free. Again, Geralt makes a sign - this one, the sign of Aard. His hand thrumming with mystical power, Geralt places his palm against the women's torso and blasts her away with enough force to bring a door from its hinges!
Alexis Maaka	Alexis swears as she ducks to avoid fire, poking her head out between volleys to trade fire with the gunmen before her shotgun runs dry. Instead of reloading, she stuffs the scattergun in her Matter Manipulator inventory before swapping it back to her coilgun. The futuristic battle rifle will do far better for what comes next. She uses her grapple to climb up into the trees, using the confusion to cover her movements as she mantles across the branches like a cybernetic Tarzan until finding a comfortable perch. With the rifle, she aims through the hi-tech scope and sights down one of the gunmen, her weapon pulsing as the high velocity rounds propel towards one of the rifle toting officers, intending to drop him with a couple shots to the chest.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa gets one down, she's got one last charge left in the Arc Thrower, she know sshe cna't save everyone and she feels the chill coming down her spine, and there's something else. It's a feeling like some of the one she's had back in Kingsmouth, she doesn't like those sorts of feelings. "A bear spirit, and I see why it sent me and the othere here. What is going on here." Oh look a lighting bolt that's not going to be good. Kotone gives up any change to make an attack upon him to evade the strike. "...and your a mage."
Chica Mendez	The orc woman's struggle to kill Geralt is sadly interrupted by his spell. The force of the magic on her chest actually forces her to flip in mid air as she's sent back, and lands flat on her back. For a moment, the orc just jitters and shudders for a few moments, then slowly pushes herself back to her feet, grunting hoarsely. Alexis taking a note from good forest strategy ends up being pretty useful. The one that she'd shot with the shotgun a few moments ago ends up taking both rounds to the chest, one of them catching his heart. He drops, and like last time the mist of his last breath forms into tentacles forcing their way out. Finally--at least on the defender's side--everything comes to a halt when the elf yells sharply, "ENOUGH!" All the gun wielders drop into cover. The orc stands still. The elf approaches Kotone slowly with a friendly smile on his face. "We have no use for you, or the other woman. You have nothing but metal in you. You can both leave, and live." His eyes turn back into the forest, back where it can smell magic. "You will leave the one who casts magic." What was going on here... The elf chuckles good naturedly. "What is happening is the future of your race. The Gates are opening faster than before. It will not be long now. Run, and eke out your miserable existance for a little while longer, perhaps." In spite of his words, he never seems to actually sound upset or condecending. Like a friend, giving advice...
Geralt of Rivia	It's a good thing someone told them all to stop, because it looks like Geralt was about to slice the Orc woman's head from her shoulders. He pulls his blade back into a guard positions. He stares back at the elf, face blank. "Not a fan of mysterious elves," Geralt replies. "I'll be leaving," he continues, voice as gravely as ever. "Unless you've got somethin' else you want to say?"
Alexis Maaka	"Not a fucking chance, pretty boy." Alexis barks from up high, her rifle's sights trained on the elf as she debates just squeezing the trigger. It'd be such an easy decision to make. He's creepy, clearly knows about this stuff and probably /is/ behind it...but at the same time she's content to let Geralt speak for himself while she provides overwatch. The cyborg remains stone still up in the trees, her breaths minimal.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa recalls what the bear spirit asked of them and she knows it's not a good idea to break a deal with a spirit. It will come back to haunt her if she doesn't do anything about this. She keeps her weapons ready, she catches sight of some sort of parasite of a supernatural solt she looks at him for a moment and her eyes narrows. She banishes hte arc thrower and is ready to go for her actual weapon. "No, I don't think so. I'm pretty sure messing you up will slow things down. I seen this sort of thing before, all it needs is for people to do /nothing/ to try and stop it."
Chica Mendez	Bruised and battered as she was, the orc still looked like she was ready to tangle. Ther's a pretty massive bruise forming on her chest now, though. By rights, she should be down completely. The elf's face twists into amused exapseration, gently touching his fingertips to his forehead. Like he's dealing with disobedient children. "You cannot kill us. The spirit cannot kill us. Destroy these fleshpuppets as you will. We will remain. Waiting..." Kotone is given a look of concern and pity. "You understand nothing. You cannot strike us where we live. You cannot prevent what is going to happen to this world. The Doors are opening. The bridge comes. With it, so do They." And then, suddenly, he's bumrushing Kotone with incredible speed. It seems he's trying to swat her away--but he's even stronger than his minions. Suddenly the firefight starts up again as the pawns recieve their master's worldless command.
Chica Mendez	That order seems to reach everyone but the orc. She turns on her heel and tries to go running into the deeper forests, away from the path. She's not really as fast as before due to fatigue and the massive bruise on her chest, but she's moving with a purpose.
Alexis Maaka	And immediately Alexis goes back to shooting again. Her rifle barks as she goes for headshots on the mysterious elf native guy, as if immediately reacting to his trying to swat Kotone. Someone struck a nerve, as Alexis ups the aggression as she goes from single shots to short bursts at the elf.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa ays "I can however delay it." Kotone has taken Inga's lessons to heart it's not even about the pay day at this point. No she made a deal with that spirit and she darn well knows what happens if you break deals like that. She opens fire as well trying to take them down. "It's as I said, all they need is for people to do nothing! I seen people fight back I was told I'm nothing and now I'm going to shut you up!" She opens fire on the Elf sending a burst of SMG rounds and she cloaks again, trying to make herself a harder target.
Geralt of Rivia	This sounds like a prophecy. Now, Geralt has heard plenty of prophecies and he's had his dealings with enough mysterious elves that he generally tries to avoid them. After all, nothing good at come from dealing with the Aen Elle. He ducks aside as bullets rip through the trees, and seems to be trying to charge towards Kotone to give a hand with the elf that has charged her. It'll take him a bit, however, hopefully Kotone can handle the attacker before he gets there! After all, a monster saying that they can't be killed - that's just a challenge to the witcher.
Chica Mendez	With the orc woman breaking away from the fight, and everyone's attention focused on the master, the three remaining monsters quit the field as well, no longer firing, only running. The orders from their Master was absolute. The elf is close enough that Kotone's SMG ammo smacks him right in the chest, though it seems to not do much mure tha push him back and stun him for a moment. Good for everyone, that's all the time that Alexis needs to get a good bead on the bastard--and send a round straight through his chest. Probably got a lung, actually. The elf falls as Geralt gets in, but despite having a hole through him, the elf is still smiling as if all was bright and happy with the world. Even while choked with blood. "Your efforts are meaningless. You will not forestall what shall come here..." The elf's face slowly goes grey as blood pumps from his wound, until he too expires. As the light from the elf's eyes fade, the thing possessing him forces itself free. Unlike the others, it's form is much stronger as it leaves, showing a vague impression of a vaguely jellyfish-like creature until it, too, fades. If they decide to check the shack before leaving, they'd find that the inside is strewn with butchered corpses with horrified expressions on their face--and in the center is an altar. Geralt's medallion rings ominously near it. And will continue to do so, even if they put the whole house to the torch. Whatever was done here has left a mark on the place--a place of horror, suffering, and death. But, good news. The bear will give them what they want, which ends up being a simple river pebble put out on the altar. The bear refuses to show itself, though the pebble seems to resonate with more magic than the branch they'd found before. MISSION COMPLETE!